Azam khan (File photo)RAMPUR: Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan has said that he is ready to face a CBI inquiry into the alleged scam involving Waqf properties in UP. Recently, state minister Mohsin Raza had announced that Shia and Sunni Waqf Boards in UP would be dissolved in the wake of corruption charges against them. The dissolution process has been started after taking into account all legal aspects, the minister had said.

“Shia and Sunni Central Waqf Boards are autonomous bodies governed by the Constitution of India. The chairpersons and other members of these boards are elected after voting. Dissolving them will amount to an attack on the democratic values of the country and on the minorities,” Azam said.

The former UP cabinet minister said if there were reports of irregularities, the government can order a CBI probe. “What is the point of dissolving the boards? Not a single inch of Waqf land is registered in my name,” he said.

Clarifying over the issue of Jauhar trust acquiring Waqf properties in Rampur during the SP rule, Azam said “That was the decision of the state government after conducting an inquiry and the land was used for the purposes of education.”

Earlier, Minister of State for Waqf, Mohsin Raza had said that the role of the chairman of the Shia Waqf Board, Wasim Rizvi, as well as that of then minister Azam Khan had come under the scanner after an inquiry by the Waqf Council of India pointed out at several irregularities.